Microsoft

Windows 7 has been available to the wider public since October 22, 2009, a period of five months. According to a new report, in that time it has accumulated twice as many users as its predecessor, Windows Vista, over the same amount of time ... following its release in late January, 2007. The findings are provided by California-based web analysts NetApplications.com. They found that Windows 7, as of this past Sunday, accounted for about 9 per cent of all operating systems (OS) being used online. By contrast, Windows Vista had just a 4.5 per cent share of the OS market five months after its ... (view more)

Microsoft is trying to harness the power of social networking for its own connectivity tool, email program Outlook. But rather than start its own network, Microsoft is aiming for an easier way to manage existing accounts. The firm has announced a ... beta program to integrate LinkedIn directly with Outlook. It's also announced partnerships are in the works for both Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn is a primarily business-oriented tool for tracking networks. As well as acting like an online resume, it's designed for people to be able to make new business contacts through shared contacts. The site ... (view more)

The Microsoft " browser ballot ," which is meant to promote fair competition amongst web browsers by offering choices aside from Internet Explorer (IE), will debut via an update March 1. However, at least one security company is warning that the ... process could open doors for hackers to attack. For those unaware of the browser ballot, it's Microsoft's response to accusations by the European Union that the software company's traditional bundling of Internet Explorer with its Windows operating systems was a violation of antitrust laws. Thus, Microsoft agreed that it would eventually offer users ... (view more)

Microsoft has been recently criticized for suggesting that it may charge phone companies to use its newly-unveiled mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 (previously known as Windows Mobile 7). However, other analysts argue that charging for the ... operating system is both reasonable and sensible. The charge was led by the Business Insider website, where a columnist estimated that Microsoft's annual revenue from licensing the Windows Phone 7 system will be around $300 million. That's clearly no trifling sum, as Dan Frommer argues, but it's a tiny part of Microsoft's annual income of around $66 ... (view more)

Critics this morning are wondering what impact an outage of Microsoft's Hotmail email service will have on consumers, who are increasingly leaning towards Google's Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. According to reports, yesterday at about 12:30pm Eastern Time, ... or 9:30am Pacific Time, Microsoft's Hotmail email service and the Windows Live Messenger instant messaging program both stopped working. Many users were barred from entering into their Hotmail or Messenger accounts, and at this time it's not 100 per cent clear what was behind the outage. Some initial reactions to the news included fears that the ... (view more)

A U.S. District Court Judge for Washington's Western District has dismissed a claim against software giant Microsoft over the use of its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program four years ago. One of many reasons that Windows Vista failed was ... because of widespread fear of something called WGA, or the Windows Genuine Advantage program. The drive behind WGA was simple: analyze a computer for pirated copy of Windows and report back to Microsoft headquarters. Unfortunately, the Windows Genuine Advantage stirred up plenty of fear and anger in the lead-up to Vista's launch. Plaintiffs Claim WGA is ... (view more)

Microsoft is releasing a set of tools aimed at detecting and undoing attempts to bypass Windows 7 anti-piracy checks. It's mostly meant for corporate networks, but the release is also intended as a security warning. The toolset is an update for ... Windows Activation Technologies, one of the systems which checks that a copy of Windows 7 is legitimate. The update will search for and eliminate 70 known tactics for attempting to bypass these checks. (Source: windowsteamblog.com ) Microsoft Touts Antipiracy Tools Obviously, anyone who is knowingly using a pirated copy of Windows 7 is not going to ... (view more)

Microsoft Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) to release a new version of Internet Explorer 8 that boasts a number of online safety features. However, while it is being heralded as a "child-friendly" version of the popular web ... browser, it proves to be nothing more than an informational source. There is no doubt that a tremendous need exists for the protection of youngsters against the dangers that lurk online. According to Microsoft, almost 64 per cent (two thirds) of those under the age of 18 have been contacted by a stranger while online. Further research reveals that 41 ... (view more)

A Microsoft blogger recently posted a description of Windows 7's successor, internally codenamed as Windows.Next, otherwise known as Windows 8. The post, however, appears to have been removed from Microsoft's Development Network (MSDN) website at ... the time of this writing. Rumor: Windows Kernel Overhauled The post claims that the "minimum that folks can take for granted is that the next version will be something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows." It also says that the "themes that have been floated truly reflect what people have been looking for years ... (view more)

It's still a few days till Valentine's, but already Microsoft has provided its February security gift for Windows users. In yesterday's Patch Tuesday release, the Redmond-based software firm has unveiled fixes for 26 vulnerabilities, almost ... one-fifth of which are marked "critical". Critical Fixes for Windows, MS Office Suite The recent patches address flaws in Microsoft's Windows operating system and its Office software suite. Five of the vulnerabilities have been ear-marked "critical," Microsoft's highest threat rating, and another seven "important". One is considered "moderate". Across the ... (view more)